People do good because they are
human,
not because they are religious!

Do not give God any credit for the good they do, they did it!

JESUS ORDERS YOU TO HATE YOUR PARENTS

Jesus said that the person who did not hate his father and mother, wife, son,
daughter and even his own life could not be his disciple (Luke 14:26).

Christians say he did not mean it literally. But the fact remains is
that you do not use such language symbolically for it is inappropriate. It
is not needed and you must take responsibility if people misunderstand and then
despise their parents. The Christians do not mind Jesus using the language
of hate but what if he had said, "Fuck your parents"? The word hate is
worse than the word fuck.

Jesus
demanded that people put him first. Some - not all! - Christians say that the
word hate is not literal. It just means that nobody should be treated as
important except Jesus. They say that we can obey it and still do good to our
family and friends and even ourselves. But if the only reason I help others is
to please Jesus then if I am a good family man or whatever I am only making a
performance. I could walk out on them and not give a toss. If they die I cannot
mourn for them. If I mourn them for Jesus has lost them then I am questioning
his almighty providence. So I can’t do that. In John 11, Jesus weeps for Lazarus
showing either that he was a hypocrite or could not help it and was still a
hypocrite for claiming to be the epitome of perfection.

Others say that Jesus meant by hate that you must love your father and mother
and your friends and family less than him and this love for them is so inferior
and weaker to love for him that in comparison it looks like hatred. The
explanation is mere speculation and Jesus had no need to use the word hate for
what only looks like hate but isn’t. If Reverend Moon said that they would be
taking him literally but not when Jesus says it everybody is expected to pretend
he didn’t mean it but only exaggerating. The gospels never say that Jesus
exaggerated and any of the instances in which he allegedly did it can withstand
other interpretations that deny exaggeration. If Jesus exaggerated and nobody
can tell when he was doing it or not then his teaching is of little use to us.

If you were there the day Jesus supposedly said you must hate your family and
your life to be his disciple you would take him literally. Jesus would not have
used the word hate had he not meant it. He knew many listeners would take him
literally. And he knew that his teaching was spread by word of mouth and that
leads to distortion. So he had to be utterly clear for the sake of the
literalists and to do what he could to prevent gossip becoming a problem.

Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography, John Dominic Crossan, HarperCollins, San
Francisco, 1994 page 67 says that Jesus was speaking of division among
generation lines. He said that father would be against son, son against father,
mother against daughter, daughter against mother, and parents in law against
sons or daughters in law and vice versa. Why that kind of division and why not
wife against husband or brother against sister? Crossan rejects the notion that
Jesus means simply that some in a family will accept him and others will not. He
says Jesus is referring not to differences of faith in the family but power in
the family. In families in those days the parents decided who the children and
their children's spouses should hate and love. He thinks Jesus is saying he will
pull down this power structure and make all equal. But Jesus never says anything
about attacking . He means that family leaders will exercise their power to hurt
those who believe in him. He means that family members will hurt their leaders
by revolting. He says he has not come to make peace but to cause division. In
that context, he wants the power structure maintained as vicious as it is. Since
he says elsewhere that he will cause hate in the family he means it literally.

In Matthew 10:34-38, Jesus asserts that he has not come to bring peace but
division even between parents and children. He said he was not bringing peace
but a sword. Why didn’t he say war instead of sword? Because the sword is an
emblem of death and maiming so he wants people to die and lose limbs for him.

Christians say he was the prince of peace and he wanted everybody to be on
excellent terms but that when division was necessary to do his will it should be
created. For example, if your parents want you to be a pagan and you become a
Christian you should disobey them even if it costs you their love. So Christians
say he means the result of obeying him could be losing family members. They deny
that he meant he intended this to happen. But the words used elthon gar dichasai
mean purpose. He did mean he intended this. So Jesus corrected anyone who
thought he had come to spread peace saying that he only (that emphasises that he
meant it was his intention) came to turn people against one another (Matthew
10:34).

The word miseo which means hate always means hate in the real sense of the
word. That is how the Bible uses the word (Judges 14:16, Amos 5:15) Those who
say that when Jesus told you to hate your parents for his sake that he meant
love them less than him are lying. My instinct is that Jesus is condemning any
love for another that is about valuing them. If you take care of them solely
because it pleases God and your motive is to please him not to help them then
you value God not them. Not all think Jesus meant that but was commanding
outright hate. But all agree that Jesus held that God alone matters.

Jesus speaking of a slave said that the slave that has two masters will hate one
miseo and love the other (Luke 16:13). He is saying that miseo is not love at
all. It is the absence of love if it is not outright spite. Jesus is making it
clear that you cannot love God and a man. If you love your neighbour what you
mean is that you treat your neighbour well purely as an act of devotion to God.

And even if the word meant love less love less could still mean hate for hate
cannot happen unless there is love. You cannot hate a person without having a
little love for them.

Jesus had boasted that whoever disowns him in public will be disowned by him
in the judgment. Christians are forbidden to practice their religion in secret
to avoid trouble. Suppose your mother hates Christians and you become one. Can
you be discreet and just send her anonymous notes to try and convert her to
Christ. No. You have to wreck your family by publicly witnessing for Christ for
Jesus wants others to see what he has done in your life so that they might be
converted and escape inevitable damnation to Hell. Jesus would say that you are
not the one breaking it up but they are.

If you convert then Jesus broke up your family. He said you must hate your
family for him. As we have seen, the Christians "explain" that hate here means
love less. Don't know how they can be so sure. What if he meant hate? Jesus said
that anybody who loves father and mother too much to leave him and do his work
is not worthy of him (Matthew 10:34-38). He bullied and insulted those who had
more love for their families than him - that is insulting the vast majority of
people in Christendom.

Hate is distorted love. You can't hate a person or thing you don't give a toss
about. Hate is not the opposite of love. Hate is wanting to pay a person back
for somehow having failed to give you the love you want from them for you value
them. You fear being hurt by the one you value so you twist the value you have
put on them into hate.

If love and hate are two sides of the one coin then to open yourself up to
love is risking opening yourself up to hate. What if we have to hate somebody in
order to be able to love somebody else? Many people claim to be like that.
Jesus said no man can have two masters for one will be loved and the other
hated. He said hated though there were words for “loved less.” Most people are
not paragons of virtue nor do they want to be. Love is easier if you find
somebody to hate. We all do it. To command love is to command hate and the
god and religion that do it must take some responsibility for the hate.

Humanists realise that everybody disobeys their religion and faith which is
how people can be in a bad religion and be civil in spite of it. Nobody
has the right to tell people to leave their family for religion when the family
will suffer. Christianity may seem softer than Jesus but it is still too
extreme for it claims that very right.